MUHYIDDIN Yassin said he took the initiative to meet Dr Mahathir Mohamad after several opposition leaders suggested that some kind of political cooperation had to be forged to avoid multi-cornered fights at the 15th general election (GE15).

The Bersatu president said the meeting was the first step to gather feedback from the leaders of the political parties and no final decision has been made.

“After the Johor polls, I was approached by several political party leaders, including from Pejuang.

“They voiced the view to me that it would be better for parties other than Barisan Nasional to pioneer a form of political cooperation to avoid a multi-cornered clash in GE15.

“My meeting with Dr Mahathir was part of this initiative,” Muhyiddin said in a statement today, which the Pagoh lawmaker posted to his Facebook page.

In the past few days, Dr Mahathir and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim have admitted to meeting with Muhyiddin.

Yesterday, Dr Mahathir while confirming the meeting said Pejuang will not give its support for the Bersatu president to be prime minister again.

“When he was prime minister, many were not satisfied with his leadership. He (Muhyiddin) was not a good PM and there is no reason for people to pick him again.

“If he has achieved anything for Malaysia, he will win, even without my support,” Dr Mahathir told a press conference.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said there has been talks between Muhyiddin and him but said they have never discussed giving support for the Bersatu chairman to become prime minister again.

The PKR president, however, said the discussion did not involve any talk of collaboration.

“Meetings have been going on for some time. I can’t deny it, but no question was raised about the decision to form a coalition in support of him,” Anwar said.

The Port Dickson MP said the issue of whether PH would work with former prime minister Dr Mahathir was not brought up.

“The topic of cooperation with Dr Mahathir did not arise,” he told reporters after a ceremony to celebrate Lim Kit Siang in Subang Jaya tonight.

In his statement, Muhyiddin did not touch on their comments, but said political leaders and several analysts are aware that the majority of people still do not support the Barisan Nasional (BN), and votes were split due to the multi-cornered clashes between contesting political parties.

“This resulted in BN being able to win in the Malacca and Johor elections despite being rejected by the majority of the people.

“They (political leaders) agreed to avoid multi-cornered contests in GE15 to prevent the kleptocrats in BN from returning to power. Such a view is also shared by many political analysts,” the Perikatan Nasional chairman said.

Muhyiddin said this is why he agreed to meet with main leaders of the political parties in the government and the opposition to pioneer cooperation in GE15. – April 2, 2022.